Wednesday, 12 July 2017

5 myths About Being A TEFL Teacher

The TEFL world is large and complicated landing students amidst a plethora of questions. Many who are new to the field and do not have enough knowledge about the same tend to get perplexed owing to the mixed answers provided by the blogs, forums and other sites. Everyone has his/her own reason of entering the crazy world of TEFL – while some aspire to teach and explore, some others want a mid-career change. Here are some straight forward answers to the five most common myths all the TEFL aspirants have.

Myth1I won’t be looked upon well by the employers if I have teach abroad experience on my resume

Nothing can be as far from this as the truth. If you have teaching experience abroad on the resume, it actually attests the fact that how flexible and independent you are and capable of navigating difficult situations. Not to mention, you might have even picked up a foreign language during your tenure, which has helped you develop a valuable skill set. Besides, this serves as a great talking point in any interview. This is undoubtedly a fact that your experience abroad will definitely make you stand out among the other candidates.Myth 2I have to know the native tongue of the foreign country where I shall go to teach English

It is the other way round. While knowing the native tongue can make your communication easy with your students, this might, in turn, defeat your sole goal, i.e., teaching English. You might get tempted to talking to them in their native language rather than communicating with them in English. This is wrong for the Direct Method (a method of teaching English only in English) works best for TEFL. Nonetheless, in the course of your stay in the foreign country you will eventually achieve fluency in the language.

Myth 3I cannot teach abroad without having a degree

This cannot really be termed as a myth as majority of schools around the world do prefer a college degree for selecting a TEFL teacher, like in most locations of Asia, a college degree is highly essential. However, there are places in South and Central America where one can qualify as a TEFL teacher without a college degree.Myth 4TEFL career does not pay for your living

Oh come on! You really need to wake up and get a concrete market review. You can make way more money teaching in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) than you can think as the tax is less and accommodation is free! And even if you get the opportunity to teach in China or South Korea even then you will be able to save a lot of money.Myth 5I don’t need a TEFL certification to teach abroad

This is the biggest myth one can ever come across. In today’s TEFL market, the best jobs with the best salaries are reserved for the certified candidates. So, unless you have a TEFL certification you will be really pushed back in the competitive market of TEFL jobs.